


"Flaws and all."

by zeejayblue



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Character Death, Crime Fighting, Don't say I didn't warn you, Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Nervous Keith, Sad, Short, Short & Sweet, Tags Subject to Change, galra fighting, i guess?, i warned you, otp, otp fluff, short and sad, that goes fast lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-18 22:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11883936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeejayblue/pseuds/zeejayblue
Summary: “You promise you love me back?” Keith questioned doubtfully. Lance smiled fondly and cupped Keith’s cheek in his hand.“I promise,” Lance replied genuinely. Keith visibly calmed a little at this, but hesitated before speaking again.“Flaws and all?” Keith asked, his voice soft and low. Lance chuckled lightly and kissed Keith's cheek, grabbing the smaller boy’s hands in his own before he replied.“Flaws and all.”





	1. I'm in love with you

    Keith has had a crush on Lance for as long as he could remember. Ever since they realized they’d have to learn to tolerate each other for the sake of the universe, they forced each other to bond with one another. After a while, they both warmed up to each other and actually became pretty good friends. The two poke at and tease each other all the time, just as best friends do. But after a bit, Keith realized he felt different.

    The racing heart, flushing cheeks, fidgeting and nervous sputtering made it clear to him that he developed a crush on Lance. Who _wouldn’t_ get a crush on Lance? Lance is tall, has light caramel skin, and soft, wavy brown hair. His eyes are so blue, you could almost see the ocean in them. His smooth tenor voice and his effervescent laughter is like music to Keith’s ears. Every time Lance smiles, the world lights up and Keith’s day gets a bit better. Lance can sing, dance, play guitar, play piano, and he can speak Spanish. Everything about Lance was so attractive to him, and Keith almost cursed himself for willingly falling under Lance’s spell.

    After some more observation, Keith noticed he wasn’t just _crushing_ on Lance. He was _in love_ with him. His adoptive older brother, Shiro, noticed this as well and started shooting Keith some looks when Lance wasn’t looking. One day, Keith decided to pull Shiro aside to ask for his advice.

    Keith was sitting next to Lance, his cheeks matching the bright rosy red of his jacket. He fidgeted nervously and his shoulders tensed a bit when Lance’s musical laughter filled the room after he heard Pidge tell a bad joke. Keith’s face flushed a darker shade of red and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Lance turned back around and Keith forced down the blush on his cheeks and hoped he looked normal enough. Who was he kidding? Keith was blushing so much that he looked like he got sunburnt.

    Keith glanced up to Shiro with nervous eyes. Shiro returned his anxious gaze with a confused one. Keith motioned with his eyes to the hallway, and Shiro raised his eyebrows and then nodded once before clearing his throat, causing the other paladins in the room to prepare to hear him speak.

    “I’m gonna go speak to Keith for a moment, it’s regarding some training business,” Shiro lied effortlessly. Keith felt the nerves tugging at him begin to fade as he looked fake surprised at the sudden call for him as he stood up. Lance dramatically gasped, which made Keith tense a bit before his eyes darted to the tan boy.

    “Oohhh, you’re in troublleeee,” Lance teased, his voice rising and falling in an almost musical way. Pidge snickered from her chair in the corner. Keith blushed and looked to the ground.

    “Keith is _not_ in trouble,” Shiro replied, somewhat annoyed but somewhat amused as he and his adoptive younger brother walked into the hallway. Keith felt himself release a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

    “What’s up?” Shiro questioned, even though he most likely knew why Keith wanted to talk to him. Keith fidgeted with his jacket sleeves and feebly cleared his throat as he prepared to answer.

    “I need your advice,” Keith stated, his voice hushed as if someone passing by would hear him spew his deepest secret. Shiro raised an eyebrow, urging Keith to continue.

    “On?” Shiro queried, dragging out the word, leaning in a bit. Keith took a breath before responding.

    “Listen, you promise you won’t judge me? I mean, you probably already know and you probably already judge me for this but I just want to know that you’ll-”

    “Woah, slow down, you’re rambling,” Shiro cut off. Keith froze and steadied himself with a deep breath, but looked hesitant to speak again.

    “I won’t judge you. You’re practically my little brother, I’ll never judge you for anything,” Shiro assured, his voice calm and level. Keith took a breath again and forced himself to relax.

    “Okay, okay,” Keith muttered under his breath.

    “So, what do you need my advice for?” Shiro questioned, and the anxiety that had just left Keith’s body began to invade it again.

    “I.. I’m in love with Lance,” The words felt foreign on Keith’s tongue as they stumbled out of his lips and landed on the floor. Sure, he knew in his mind that he was in love with Lance, but it felt so odd to finally say it aloud.

    “Yeah, I know,” Shiro chuckled in amusement. Keith fidgeted with his jacket sleeves yet again and his eyes darted to his feet, which were shuffling nervously.

    “I can see the way you look at him,” Shiro began with a small smile. Keith looked up at his brother and gave him a glare that urged him to stop.

     “I swear, every time you’re within _five feet_ of that boy you look like you’ve been cooking in the sun,” Shiro laughed. Keith tensed and felt a blush of embarrassment spring to his cheeks.

    “I need some advice, I didn’t come to you to get teased,” Keith mumbled.

    “Right, I’m sorry,” Shiro apologized, leaning back a little to signal to Keith to continue to speak.

    “I want to tell him how I feel, but every time I open my mouth around him I just… squeak,” Keith admitted sheepishly. Shiro shook his head and smiled in amusement.

    “Why do you keep doing that? Smiling, laughing… is this _funny_ to you?” Keith fumed with sudden hostility. Shiro raised both eyebrows and raised his hands to about shoulder height in a gesture of surrender.

    “No, I swear,” Shiro assured. Keith’s face was pink and his arms were crossed tightly across his chest. He raised an eyebrow, unconvinced by Shiro’s apology.

    “I just find it kind of amusing… I’ve never seen this side of you before, it’s all so unexpected,” Shiro mused. Keith unfolded his arms and dropped them to his sides, pouting.

    “So, you wanna tell Lance how you feel, but you’re too nervous to?” Shiro questioned, raising an eyebrow. Keith swallowed and nodded, feeling pathetic that he’s too nervous to talk to the boy he likes.

    “I have no advice that would get rid of your nerves completely,” Shiro stated bluntly. Keith’s hopes deflated, and so did his posture, like a red, sad balloon.

    “Telling someone you love them is always a nerve wracking thing,” Shiro began. Keith glanced up from his deflated posture.

    “All I can tell you is to not be scared to say exactly how you feel,” Shiro stated. Keith sighed solemnly.

    “Say _exactly_ how you feel, I don’t want you to regret not saying something when you had the chance,” Shiro finished. Keith drooped his head down, sighing as he scuffed his feet.

    “Oh, okay,” Keith droned in a defeated voice. He straightened his posture some before he spoke again.

    “I just wish it wasn’t so scary, I feel like I’m in line to be executed,” Keith muttered, causing Shiro to chuckle at his dark joke.

    “It’ll be fine, Keith, don’t worry,” Shiro assured his younger brother, placing a hand on his shoulder.

    “You know how much of a romantic Lance is, just say something heartfelt and it’ll go great,” Shiro declared with a smile.

    “I’m awful with romantic stuff,” Keith groaned, his posture deflating again.

    “Lance will know you mean it anyway,” Shiro finished, patting Keith’s shoulder as he walked back into the common room. Keith stood in the hallway by himself for a minute, trying to brainstorm a plan to tell Lance how he feels.

    Keith’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard Lance’s beautiful musical laughter from the other room. Keith felt a warmth he could only describe as affection spread through his chest and all the way to his shaky fingertips. Keith decided to hide out in his room for the rest of the day, brainstorming how he was going to do this exactly.

     “Hmm, no,” Keith mumbles aloud, laying his back on the floor and kicking his feet up so they lay horizontally on his bedside. Keith rubs his face with a heavy sigh and his arms fall to his side with a thud.

    In the middle of his brainstorming, the image of Lance’s smile and the sweet sound of his laughter bubbles into Keith’s mind, causing him to blush and subconsciously hide his cheeks. Keith closed his eyes and willed Lance to go away so he could actually think.

    Suddenly, an idea comes to him. It’s not the best, but it’s the best he can think of and it’ll have to do for now. Keith scrambles to sit up, searching for a piece of paper and a stray pen. Keith finds a pen tucked away in the corner, and rips a page out of one of his doodle notebooks.

    Keith begins to scribble away at the page, pausing every few seconds to ease the pain in his arm from writing so furiously. After a minute or so, his letter was done. Sloppy, but complete nonetheless.

_“Lance,_

_Please meet me in the common room by the stars at 7:00 sharp. I need to speak with you about something._

_Don’t freak out, this wasn’t meant to sound like I was gonna kill you or something._

_From,_

_Keith.”_

    The letter was short and sweet, and Keith’s sloppy rushed handwriting was barely readable, but Keith was sure Lance would get the gyst of it. Keith pressed his ear to his door to listen to whoever was nearby or walking down the hallway. Keith heard Lance’s laughter get louder as his footsteps got closer, and then he heard a door shut.

    Keith slowly and quietly opened his door and peered around corners to make sure there was nobody coming. Keith nonchalantly sauntered to Lance’s door and slid the paper underneath it. Right away he heard it rustle, and Keith quickly bolted back into his bedroom, closing his door as quietly as he possibly could.

    Lance heard a quiet rustle, and noticed a paper was slid under his door. Curious, he picked it up to find a sloppily written letter from Keith. His eyes skimmed the words, and he tilted his head to the side slightly in confusion. Lance wondered what Keith was planning to talk to him about. The fact that he set a specific time and place had him worried and kind of nervous.

    Keith spent what spare time he had pacing his room. Soon enough and he figured he’d wear a trail into the floor. Every few seconds Keith was nervously glancing at the clock, and he felt like he was overreacting. Lance was doing the same thing, figuring he was just overthinking all of it.

    Keith was so nervous that he skipped dinner. Everyone noticed his absence, and Shiro lied saying he was training to cover Keith’s nervous ass. It seemed to work; everybody went back to casual dinnertime conversation. Shiro was worried for Keith. He knew for a fact that his adoptive little brother was overthinking everything and probably freaking out.

    Shiro was certainly correct. Keith’s cheeks were bright red, he was hyperventilating, and he was pacing back and forth in his room. Keith forced himself to stop moving by bracing his arms on his bed, desperately trying to get his breathing under control.

    “It’ll be fine, Keith, stop overthinking,” Keith told himself, feeling his heart rate slow. Keith sat down with his back resting on his bed, tapping his fingers on his knees to relieve the nervous energy while he tried to calm himself down.

    Keith eventually became unsure if he was so stressed that he was calm, or if he was _actually_ calm. Keith glanced at the clock, and noticed it was five to seven. All of the nerves he just got rid of came back faster than before and his legs acted before his mind could, carrying him swiftly to the common room.

    Keith tapped his foot impatiently as he waited, feeling his heart try to bust out of his chest. Keith took a few deep breaths, and then turned to the doorway just in time to see Lance walk in. He seemed anxious as well; his eyebrows were furrowed and he watched Keith with cautious eyes.

    “Are you _sure_ you won’t kill me?” Lance joked, noticing how nervous Keith seemed and decided to try to lighten the mood. Keith smiled a little, but the smile left as quickly as it came. Lance’s smile slowly drooped until his lips were almost pressed in a line as he walked closer to Keith.

 _“Here goes nothing,”_ Keith thought in his head, swallowing his anxiety and cringing at the lump it formed in his throat.

    “So, what were you gonna tell me?” Lance questioned, his voice calm and serious. Keith felt his heart beat so fast he swore it was about to stop right then and there. Keith opened his mouth to speak, but only a pathetic puff of air left his lips. Lance’s eyebrows furrowed and he started to look worried. Instead of what Keith wanted to talk about worrying Lance, _Keith_ was worrying him.

    “F-fuck-k… this is h-hard,” Keith stammered, his cheeks red hot and his heart roaring in his chest and ears. Keith swallowed his anxiety one last time and just decided to go for it.

    “I’m n-not good with words,” Keith stuttered, looking Lance in the eye, not caring how red his face was. Well, Keith _did_ care, but there was no way of getting around it.

    “So, fuck it,” Keith chuckled, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. Lance was intrigued, but anxious.

    “Listen, so w-we’ve been friends for a while,” Keith’s voice teetered, and he cursed himself for not being able to stay calm and steady. How we wished to have Shiro’s patience and composure.

    “We’ve gotten closer,” Keith continued. Lance nodded slowly, urging Keith to continue as he kept pausing.

    “And I’ve noticed something,” Keith paused, swallowing. Lance’s brows furrowed, but he said nothing.

    “Lately, I’ve been… shit,” Keith trailed off, looking down as he furiously ran his hands through his hair. “I’m awful with this stuff.”

    Lance noticed how anxious Keith has been acting. He has obviously been thinking about whatever he had to say for a while, and was struggling to muster up the courage to say it. Keith is an introvert, so talking to people about his feelings isn’t something he normally does. Lance is an extrovert; he always talks to people about how he feels. Lance is socially open, and Keith is socially isolated. Lance thought for a moment before placing a hand on Keith’s hands as they ran through the smaller boy’s hair. As soon as Keith felt Lance’s warm hand on his clammy one, he froze. Keith moved his hand and so did Lance. Keith looked up to see Lance giving him a sympathetic and understanding gaze. _God,_ how Keith loved his eyes.

    “Hey, it’s okay,” Lance assured, his voice calm and slow. _‘For the love of God, Lance, you being beautiful is not helping,’_ Keith thought as his cheeks flushed a bright red.

    “I swear on my life I won’t judge you,” Lance confirmed. Keith hesitated.

    “Promise?” Keith questioned, his voice small and pathetic. Keith cringed inwardly at the sound. Lance smiled and nodded.

    “Cross my heart, hope to die,” Lance replied, crossing his heart just like he said he would. Keith couldn’t help but jokingly roll his eyes.

    Keith felt surprisingly more level headed, and he took a second to collect his thoughts before resuming what he said before.

    “Like I said, we’ve been best friends for a while,” Keith continued. He took a breath before speaking again.

    “But lately I’ve been feeling different,” Keith paused, looking to the side as if the words he wanted to say had floated out of his brain and into the empty space beside him.

    “I feel like I want much more than that,” Keith’s voice grew quiet and he noticed a faint blush spread across Lance’s tan cheeks.

    “I’m… I’m in love with you, Lance.”

    Everything stopped. The room fell dead silent. The ambiance noise froze, and time seemed to freeze as well. Lance’s cheeks matched Keith’s jacket, and Keith was blushing just the same.

    “I’m in love with all of you. Your hair, your eyes, your personality… I love it all with my whole being,” Keith took Lance’s silence to continue. A sheepish smile was beginning to tug at Lance’s lips, so Keith decided to add onto his words.

    “Your eyes are like the ocean, I feel like I can swim in them and get lost at sea,” Keith gushed. He was surprised about how quickly and easily cheesy and romantic comparisons came to him.

    “Your body, your talent, I just… _fuck,_ I can never get enough of you.” By now, the both of them were smiling and blushing like idiots.

    “You are the only person who can brighten my day. Your dumb jokes, your singing, your guitar playing… you are the reason I smile every day,” Keith babbled. Lance was looking at his feet and pressing his hands to his cheeks to try to hide his ginormous smile, but Keith could see a smile that bright and beautiful from miles and miles away.

    “I love you, I love you, I love you. I could say it a thousand times and I don’t think it would show remotely how much I truly love you,” Keith gushed. Lance looked up at Keith with glassy eyes and a smile so wide his teeth couldn’t stay concealed anymore.

    “I want more than a friendship,” Keith finished. Lance wiped a tear that squeezed out of his eye and onto his cheek. After a short pause, Lance drew in a shaky breath.

    “Wow, I-I… I’m speechless,” Lance chuckled in shock. He took a deep breath to steady himself before speaking again.

    “And you said you aren’t good with words, you liar,” Lance joked fondly, bringing a smile to Keith’s face.

    “It’s so relieving to hear you say that, because I feel the exact same way,” Lance spoke, a big, bright smile almost splitting his beautiful face in two. Keith smiled widely too, feeling his cheeks grow hot.

    After a second of thinking, Keith’s face fell. Lance’s face fell too, and before he could ask what was wrong Keith said something that broke Lance’s heart.

    “I’m so flawed… I’m a hothead… I’m _half Galra_ … ” Keith mumbled doubtfully, his face contorting in doubt, anger, and sadness.

    “And I love you back regardless,” Lance declared firmly. Keith hesitated briefly before looking up.

    “You _promise_ you love me back?” Keith questioned doubtfully. Lance smiled fondly and cupped Keith’s cheek in his hand.

    “I promise,” Lance replied genuinely. Keith visibly calmed a little at this, but hesitated before speaking again.

    “Flaws and all?” Keith asked, his voice soft and low. Lance chuckled lightly and kissed Keith's cheek, grabbing the smaller boy’s hands in his own before he replied.

    “Flaws and all.”

    Keith blushed when he realized Lance kissed him on the cheek, and decided to lean forward and peck his lips. Lance was shocked, but he quickly began to kiss back. Lance’s hands placed themselves on Keith’s hips, and Keith’s hands flew to Lance’s back. After about thirty seconds, both boys drew back to catch a breath, smiling widely and blushing madly.

    “Lance?”

    “Yeah, Keith?”

    “Are we like… friends with benefits? Or boyfriends?” Lance snorted fondly at Keith’s question.

    “You’re adorable,” Lance mumbled.

    “Well… I like the second one _much_ better than the first one,” Lance replied. Keith smiled and exhaled.

    “Me too,” Keith muttered, his eyes trailing from Lance’s lips to his ocean blue eyes.

    “So?” Keith questioned, his purple eyes gazing into Lance’s blue ones.

    “Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend, you dork,” Lance giggled, pulling Keith closer to him to close the space between their lips. They both pulled apart after a few seconds, and then held each other in an embrace.

    “I love you,” Keith mumbled into Lance’s shoulder, smiling as his chest filled with a happy, loving warmth. Lance smiled and sighed.

    “I love you too, Keith.”


	2. Practice makes perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins train and train when they learn about a mission that could have everyone's lives on the line.

    Keith was roused from a contented sleep from last night’s events when alarms began blaring. He bolted upright, half asleep, and stumbled out of bed, landing on the floor with a soft groan. Keith’s head perked up from the ground when he heard Allura’s voice over the intercom.

_    “Attention, paladins of Voltron! An extremely dangerous mission lies ahead of us! Suit up and be in the training room in 10 ticks!”   _ At the sound of an extremely dangerous mission where lives could be at risk, Keith was immediately awake. It took a second to realize he had ten ticks to get to the training room in full gear, so he stood up and discursively yanked his armor from his open closet door, quickly shuffling into it. Keith slapped his helmet over his head and grabbed his bayard, sprinting down the hallway and into the training room. Hunk and Shiro were already there. Keith ran in, followed by Pidge, and then his boyfriend, Lance. They exchanged a loving smile with each other before turning to Allura, who stood in front of them with a staid, grave face.

    “Paladins, I believe you know why we’re all in here,” She began, her voice lacking that musical rise and fall that it usually had. Her voice was flat, and so was her facial expression, with her brows slightly furrowed. Even Coran seemed solemn as he stood stoically beside her.

    “A mission that’s extremely dangerous? Care to explain?” Pidge replied, her voice rising in pitch from nerves as she recalled the announcement.

    “We have found a nearby planet, planet Ietis, that has been consumed by the Galra empire,” Allura continued, her voice grave. Coran nodded slowly before adding onto her words.

    “They have Galra guards and bases everywhere, it’s practically the  _ Galra’s _ planet now,” Coran stated. Everyone’s obvious fear was tacit. You could feel the atmosphere grow heavier, and it felt like a weight was slowly being lowered onto your chest.

    “How dangerous  _ is  _ this mission?” Shiro questioned, trying his best to maintain his strong demeanor. The paladins glanced fearfully from Shiro to Allura, who took a heavy breath.

    “Everyone’s lives will be at risk,” Allura stated without missing a beat, her voice dark. Coran nodded gravely.

    “Which is why Allura called you all here,” Coran changed the subject, using his normal, bouncy voice that brightened the atmosphere a bit. 

    “This mission will be tough, and we need to take the entirety of today to prepare for it,” Coran finished, clasping his hands together. The paladins immediately got much more nervous than they were before. A dangerous, life-threatening mission, and only  _ one day  _ to train?

    “If this mission is so dangerous, won’t we need  _ way _ more time than that?” Keith questioned, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms across his chest. Lance glanced at Keith as he spoke and then looked to Coran.

    “In a perfect world, we’d have all the time we need, lad, but this is war; we don’t have much of a choice,” Coran explained, shuffling his feet. Keith sighed and leaned back on his right ankle, shifting his body weight. 

    “Training is going to be long, and it’s going to be tough, but it is what must be done,” Allura declared. The paladins nodded and their postures subconsciously straightened.

    “But! But but but!” Coran exclaimed suddenly, causing the paladins and Allura to glance his way.

    “It’s no good training on an empty stomach!” Coran pointed out. Hunk’s eyes lit up at the mention of food.

    “Oh, thank  _ God, _ I was so sure I was about to starve,” Hunk whined dramatically, causing the paladins to laugh a little. Everyone headed to the kitchen to grab a small snack, and carried on casual conversation. The occasional comment about the mission came up here and there, but was eventually pushed aside when a new subject was introduced.

    Keith didn’t participate in conversation much. His mind was consumed with thoughts about this mission. Supposedly there’s Galra everywhere… Guards, drones… Fighting forces… possibly another Robobeast, but what if there’s more than one this time? What if they all fail? What if the Galra find them? What if someone dies? What if-

    “Keith? You okay?” Lance questioned from across the table, causing conversation to die down. Keith sat up a bit in his chair as his thoughts shifted to the back of his head.

    “Yeah,” Keith mumbled half-heartedly and unconvincingly. 

    “I know this mission is making everybody nervous,” Shiro began, causing conversation to freeze as everybody looked to their senior officer.

    “But if we give our one-hundred and twenty percent in training, we’ll be as prepared as we could ever be,” Shiro pointed out. The paladins exchanged nervous glances with each other.

    “We’ve faced hardships like this before. Maybe not this risky, but we’ve certainly had our fair share of challenging missions,” Shiro continued. Keith’s slumped shoulders perked up a little.

    “All we can do is give our all,” Shiro finished. The paladins smiled softly and nodded, a hint of nervousness left. Missions like this are always nerve-wracking; there was no way they’d all be completely calm going into it.

    After a few minutes, everybody finished their meal and filed into the training room. They went between sparring sessions, group training robot sessions, and solo training bot sessions. Each of the paladins got a chance to challenge the level fourteen training bot, Keith being the first one to give it a shot.

    Allura’s voice shouting commands was muffled to Keith as he continued sparring with the robot. Keith’s eyes were narrowed and he was ultimately focused on his current mission: get past training level fourteen. He felt his heart roaring in his ears, and he felt his limbs move without his mind telling them to. Keith swung his bayard effortlessly, the blade plunging into the metal and knocking the training bot to the floor. The training bot disintegrated, and Keith’s tunnel vision faded and he felt himself relax some. Lance gave him a high five as he walked back to his spot.

    “You were like, in the zone,” Lance marvelled. Keith smirked and shrugged.

    “Let’s hope I’m as good as you, babe,” Lance stated winsomely as Allura called him up. Lance cleared his throat, cracked his knuckles and readied his bayard.

    Lance took a heavy breath and focused every fiber of his being on defeating the level fourteen training bot. Everyone is at the same level, level 9. This robot is exponentially more difficult to defeat, attempting to simulate how hard this upcoming mission was. Lance grabbed his mind and made it focus on the task at hand.

    Lance deftly dodged the training bot just in time, getting back up and grabbing his bayard. The training bot caught up with him and Lance slid under its legs. An unexpected fighting tactic, but a successful one. Lance fended off the training bot and created some distance between then by firing a few punches and deft kicks. Keith was mesmerized by the way Lance fought. His brows were furrowed, almost touching the top of his eyeball, his lips were pressed in a tight line, and his determined eyes were locked on the training bot in front of him.

    Lance formed his bayard and fired a few shots at the training bot, who swiftly dodged them. Lance fired once more, and the shot just barely grazed the bot’s leg.

    “Damn,” He cursed under his breath, attempting to create as much distance as he could. Lance steadied his bayard, aimed, and fired. The bot was down and it quickly disintegrated. Lance smirked pridefully and turned to look at Keith, who was smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up from the sidelines.

    “Alright Hunk, give it a go,” Coran called. Lance gave Keith a high five as he sat down next to his boyfriend. Hunk apprehensively stood up and gulped, grabbing his bayard and standing in the center of the training room, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

    Hunk’s eyes focused on the spot in front of him, preparing to see the training bot appear. As soon as it did, it began to initiate combat. Hunk quickly fell into combat mode, and everyone cheered him on from the sidelines. Hunk smirked as he continued to battle the training bot, one final blow with his fist and it disintegrated.

    “Spectacular! You beat the bot in record time,” Coran observed. Hunk’s face lit up at the praise, and he walked back to his spot by Pidge on the sidelines. Pidge patted his shoulder and told him she was proud. Hunk puffed his chest in mock bravado, causing her to chuckle as she stood up.

    “Pidge, you should give it a go,” Coran announced. Pidge hopped up and stood in the center of the training room, her bayard in hand. 

    “Alright, let me just fix some things,” Coran mumbled. Pidge raised an eyebrow and turned her head, looking at the screen in front of her. She watched the training bot level go from 14 to 12.

    “Hey! Just because I’m a girl and I’m small doesn’t mean I’m not strong!” Pidge bit, turning furiously to Coran. Coran raised both eyebrows.

    “I know, I know! I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Coran replied. Pidge scoffed. 

    “ _ They _ all did it,  _ they _ didn’t get hurt,” Pidge fired back.

    “I’m not trying to discriminate, Pidge, I’m really not,” Coran insisted.

    “Then what’s the holdup?” Pidge questioned shortly.

    “The level fourteen training bot is _ seven times stronger _ than the training bot that you’re currently training with,” Coran pointed out warily. The paladins froze and Pidge faltered before replying.

    “Coran, I appreciate the fact that you care about me,” Pidge began.

    “But just because I’m small doesn’t mean that I can’t kick some robot ass,” Pidge fired back, crossing her tiny arms across her chest, causing her bayard to hang awkwardly from her hand. Coran seemed hesitant, but Pidge’s glare demanded him to change it back.

    “Alright, number five, kick some ass,” Coran replied hesitantly but cheerfully as he bumped the notch up to 14. Pidge smirked and readied her bayard in her hands.

    The training bot was easily double her height. But Pidge wasn’t intimidated. She grabbed her bayard and launched it, causing a string to wrap around its legs. With one swift tug, it fell to the ground. Her bayard retracted and in half a second, swatted it at the training bot’s chest, leaving a huge scratch and a dent. The training bot lunged towards Pidge, bowling her over. She promptly slid under its legs, launching her bayard again and wrapping the string around its leg, ripping it off, causing the bot to disintegrate.

    “ _ Marvelously _ done, Pidge! Your training efforts have bode you well, for you beat Hunk’s record time by 1.239 seconds!” Coran exclaimed. Pidge lit up and smirked confidently.

    “See? Told you I could kick ass,” Pidge boasted.

    “Hell yeah, you can!” Hunk called from the sidelines. Everyone applauded Pidge for her performance, and she curtseyed before going back to her spot by Hunk.

    “Alright, Shiro, show ‘em what you got,” Coran called. Shiro stood up from his spot and stepped into the center of the room, immediately focusing on the spot in front of him. His arm began to glow, ready to strike.

    As soon as the robot appeared in front of him, Shiro went straight for the bot’s neck. Lance raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was no mystery why everyone used to call him ‘Champion’.

    Shiro’s arm barely grazed the bot’s surface, for it just barely dodged what would have been a lethal blow. Shiro’s brows furrowed and his arm began to glow again, but the bot lunged for him.

    “Shit,” Shiro swore under his breath through gritted teeth, deftly dodging the bot by quickly stepping largely in the opposite direction.

    Shiro’s arm began to glow once more, and without hesitation he sliced the air and his hand hit the bot’s neck, causing it to fall and disintegrate. Shiro took off his helmet and fixed his hair, exhaling as his arm stopped glowing.

    “Fantastic, Shiro! You were just 0.562 seconds behind Pidge!” Coran extolled. Shiro’s posture straightened and he smiled lightly as he headed back to his spot in the back of the training room. 

    “Paladins, I am pleased with your efforts!” Allura exclaimed, her face lighting up.

    “You have show tremendous improvements, and I will allow you all to take a thirty minute break for dinner,” She finished. Everyone sighed in relief and began to chatter casually as they headed to the dining room.

   “My strong boy! There he is! The love of my life!” Lance called in a sing-song voice, causing Keith to blush as Lance wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Keith scoffed playfully and smiled sheepishly, causing Lance to squeal in affection and peck his cheek.

    “How can you be adorable and hot at the same time?” Lance questioned rhetorically, causing Keith to chuckle as a blush spread across his cheeks.

    The pair sat next to each other in the dining room. The paladins chattered amongst themselves about how training went, future training, and the mission ahead of them. Just like at breakfast, Keith wasn’t very involved in the conversation. The mention of the mission made him nervous. There was no telling how truly dangerous it was. Conversation ceased to be audible and Keith only saw lips move as his thoughts took over his mind.

    “Hey, Keith,” Lance gently prodded his boyfriend’s shoulder. Keith shook himself out of his daze and looked to Lance with a half-hearted smile.

    “This is really stressing you out, huh?” Lance questioned, his voice low. Keith looked down to his lap.

    “I just… I don’t want anything bad to happen,” Keith explained pathetically, his voice sounding like a nervous childs. Lance sighed and pecked Keith’s cheek, taking his boyfriend’s hand in his.

    “We’ll be fine, we’ll just do everything we can,” Lance assured. Keith still seemed hesitant.

    “It’s all we can do,” Lance added. Keith looked up at him, and smiled lightly when Lance kissed his forehead.

    Hunk came out of the kitchen with two plates full of food, and everyone immediately lunged forward to grab a huge helping. Allura and Coran laughed fondly as they watched the paladins inhale their dinner.

    “Well, they seem hungry,” Coran commented with an amused tone.

    “Well, who can blame them? They’ve been training all day,” Allura mused. They both chuckled when everyone grabbed seconds, even Pidge.

    “As hungry as you all are, don’t eat too quickly, we have one more training exercise to do,” Allura called out. It’s almost as if her voice was a remote and those words were like hitting the pause button. All movement and noise stopped for a moment before Lance swallowed his mouthful of food to complain.

    “Ugh, what  _ now? _ ” Lance whined, slouching in his chair.

    “It’s a team building exercise! I was thinking we could try the invisible maze again!” Allura chimed. The other paladins thought briefly before exchanging intrigued glances with each other.

    “Sounds fun, I’m down,” Shiro shrugged. The other paladins nodded and got up from their seats to go back to the training room.

    “All right, Keith, you’ll guide Pidge through the maze,” Allura announced. Keith nodded and Pidge raised an eyebrow.

    “If you purposefully guide me into the wall, you can kiss your shins goodbye,” Pidge threatened before walking to the start. Keith chuckled and went in the tower with the control panel where the entire maze was visible. 

    “Alright Keith, where to first?” Pidge’s voice called over the intercom.

    “Take 3 steps forward,” Keith directed, not breaking his gaze from the screen. Pidge hesitated before stepping forward 3 tiny shuffle steps.

    “Do you not trust me?” Keith asked incredulously with a hint of a laugh.

    “I’m sorry! I’m an Aries! I don’t really trust anyone!” Pidge cried, causing Keith to nose laugh and shake his head.

    “Take 2 ACTUAL steps forward,” Keith instructed. Pidge hesitated before doing so, and sighed dramatically in relief when she didn’t get shocked.

    Keith continued to guide Pidge through the maze, laughing some when Pidge took tiny steps or hesitated as she turned corners. Eventually she got all the way through, and was so relieved. She thanked Keith for not guiding her into walls, to which Keith replied with a confused “You’re welcome”.

    “Okay, Lance, you’ll guide Shiro,” Allura announced. Shiro sighed that familiar disappointed dad sigh and turned to Lance, giving him a stern gaze.

    “If you try _ anything, _ ” Shiro warned, not needing to finish the sentence. Lance nodded and went to the control tower without a word. He generated a new maze, and put on the headset and tapped the mic.

    “Thanks for that,” Shiro called, wincing as the loud sound rang through his helmet. Lance winced and cleared his throat before speaking.

    “Okay, take two steps forward,” Lance began, his eyes scanning the entire maze. This one had a few tight corners, one of which was right at the start.

    Shiro reluctantly did so, raising his eyebrow in caution as he placed his foot down. Lance hummed thoughtfully, and Shiro faltered.

    “What’s going on?” He questioned, looking into the tower to see Lance pondering something.

    “This is gonna be a bit tricky, so bear with me,” Lance began. Shiro raised an eyebrow.

    “There is a corner directly in front of you that turns at a 90 degree angle,” Lance explained. Shiro turned back around to prepare to move.

    “Take one TINY step forward, then turn at a 90 degree angle to the right,” Lance instructed. Shiro took a tiny shuffle forward and turned directly to the right, and Lance nodded.

    “Okay good, there’s another turn like that one up ahead on the left,” Lance continued. Keith watched in interest at the scene in front of him. 

    Lance continued to rightfully guide Shiro through the maze. Shiro, too, was relieved at the end of it. Lance was fake hurt and accused Shiro of not trusting him. Shiro made some jokes before they both went to the back of the training room as team building continued.

    Everyone got a turn guiding someone and walking through the maze, and once everyone had finished training, it was time to go to bed.

    “Paladins, well done today! I am proud of all of you, and I certainly think we are ready for this mission!” Allura extolled. Coran beamed beside her.

    “You can all kick some ass tomorrow!” Coran encouraged. The paladins laughed and Allura raised her eyebrow at Coran.

     “What? It’s that hip, cool earth lingo,” Coran explained, doing a few motions and poses with his hands. Allura rolled her eyes in amusement.

    “Gotta be hip and ‘with it’ at all times, indeed I do!” Coran exclaimed, adjusting his mustache with his chest puffed and one arm behind his back. The paladins chuckled as they all walked down the hallway.

    Once the paladins were out of earshot, both Allura and Coran released a breath that they had no idea they were holding in. Allura’s happy face drooped and so did her shoulders. Coran’s eyes lost their usual happy glow and faded to a dull purple. They both exchanged a solemn glance with each other.

    “Do you think they’re strong enough to handle it?” Allura questioned doubtfully. Coran’s shoulders drooped as well and he exhaled before he replied.

    “They’re gonna have to be,” Coran replied solemnly.

    “What if something happens? What if the Galra capture them? What if we can’t save the Ietians?” Allura fretted, her eyes growing glassy.

    “Hey, princess,” Coran called, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

    “They’re strong paladins. They’ve faced difficulties like this before,” Coran explained. Allura looked down to her feet and sighed solemnly.

    “They’ve trained as much as they could, Allura. This is war, time is short,” Coran added. Allura nodded slowly before looking up again.

    “Princess, I am  _ just  _ as concerned as you are for these paladins. I was  _ devastated _ when I lost my family to the Galra, and the paladins have become a second family to me. You included. They’ve done all they can for now, and we can’t turn back,” Coran finished. Allura sighed for the umpteenth time that evening.

    “I don’t want to lose them,” Allura mumbled.

    “Me either, but all they can do is their best,” Coran confirmed. Allura didn’t reply, and just looked to her feet.

    “Try not to think about what could go wrong, and instead think about what could go right,” Coran encouraged, bringing a small smile to the princess’ face.

    “Get some rest, Allura. We will handle this tomorrow,” Coran urged. Allura nodded and sauntered off to her bedroom, and Coran did the same. 

    “Get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning,” Lance mumbled lovingly as they both neared their rooms, pulling Keith into an embrace and placing a delicate kiss on his lips. Keith sighed and pulled away, not looking at Lance and looking down instead.

    “Hey,” Lance cooed, turning Keith’s chin upward so Lance could look into his eyes. Keith’s eyebrows were knitted together and he seemed anxious.

    “I’m still scared about the mission,” Keith admitted. Lance brushed Keith’s hair out of his face and gently kissed his forehead.

    “Don’t be, you kicked  _ major _ ass today,” Lance gushed, pulling Keith closer to him for a hug. Keith melted into his boyfriend’s touch, not wanting to leave his comfort.

    “We’ll be great,” Lance assured, kissing Keith’s cheek. Keith smiled softly as Lance pulled away.

    “Goodnight, get some sleep, okay, love?” Lance questioned. Keith smiled and chuckled before answering.

    “I’ll try,” Keith sighed. Lance blew him a kiss and went into his bedroom directly across from Keith’s. 

    The door shut, and the hallway was dark and quiet. Anxiety settled in Keith’s chest and he crept into his bedroom and into the light again. Something still seemed… off. His nerves about the impending mission made him feel detached from reality, and everything felt unreal. Lance’s words echoed in Keith’s head again and again as he slipped into his pajamas and into bed after turning the lights off.

    As much as Keith wanted to get the mission off of his mind, he simply couldn’t do it. It was all he thought about. What if it’s more dangerous than Coran and Allura have been letting on? A million ‘what if’ scenarios ran through his mind, and Keith squinted his eyes shut, trying to shut them out.

    Keith rolled onto his side and faced his wall, his eyes still shut. A lack of sleep can’t be the thing that kills him or someone else on the mission tomorrow. Keith knew how badly he needed to sleep, but he couldn’t seem to fall asleep. He knew the faster he fell asleep, the faster the next day would come, and the faster the mission would come.

    After 30 minutes of eyes squeezed shut and ‘what if’s, Keith finally forced himself to go to sleep, not ready for what tomorrow was going to bring him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do i keep writing so many words per chapter im crying  
> the maze part was just a lil filler for laughs bc i've lw wanted to see lance guide shiro through the maze, lots of disappointed dad reactions would occur and i need that in my life  
> i'll try to update everyday until chapter 4 is up but im in school and i have all core classes this semester which means a pletheora of homework for me every day :')))  
> i promise to try my best okay


	3. Outmanned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ietis mission begins.

     Keith opened his eyes and immediately felt tense in his bedroom’s off-putting silence. His anxiety grabbed reality and twisted it, making everything seem unreal.

    For a moment, as he woke, Keith almost forgot about the mission today.

_     Almost. _

    Keith wished he would have _ really _ forgotten about it. After all, ignorance is bliss, right?

    Keith slowly got out of bed, trying to push the negative thoughts out of his mind as he grabbed his paladin armor. Sighing heavily, he dusted it off as he pulled it out of his closet. 

    Keith hesitantly suited up, making sure to grab his helmet and his bayard. Keith stepped into the hallway and heard quiet chatter coming from the common room. He heard Hunk, Pidge, Lance, and eventually Shiro. Keith took a breath as he stepped out into the common room, hoping he didn’t look too… off.

    “Hey, you look like you had a rough night,” Lance pointed out with worry as Keith sat next to him on the couch. Keith didn’t look at Lance. His gaze shifted to his feet and a stoic look remained on his face.

    “What’s wrong, love?” Lance queried, causing all other conversation to die down. Keith’s eyes flickered to the right, and he tapped his foot and twiddled his thumbs.

    “I’m not ready for this mission, I need more time,” Keith mumbled. Allura and Coran eyed Keith with a sympathetic gaze.

    “I know, none of us are really ready,” Shiro replied. Keith looked upward to him, his eyes devoid of all hope.

    “I feel like something’s gonna happen, what if someone gets hurt?” Keith queried bleakley. Lance quickly placed a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

    “Hey, don’t think like that,” Lance urged firmly with a sad glint in his eyes. Keith glanced at Lance and then huffed, folding his arms across his chest.

    “I can’t be the  _ only _ one who feels like this,” Keith bit. 

    “We can  _ do _ this, you need to believe in yourself, in your _ team, _ ” Shiro urged, an edge coming into his voice. Keith leaned back in his seat, his grumpy look drooping into a despondent one.

    “We can do this, I believe in us,” Shiro declared, his voice firm. The other paladins nodded, and Lance placed his hand on Keith’s, wrapping his fingers around the smaller boy’s palm.

    “Do you trust your teammates?” Shiro questioned. Keith’s head snapped upwards at this.

    “Of course I do!” Keith retaliated incredulously, his brows furrowing. 

    “This mission is more dangerous than _ any other mission _ we’ve ever been on, Shiro. I’m not being a pessimist, I’m just trying to think realistically,” Keith shot back, an angry look painting his face as his chin lifted. 

    “I understand that,” Shiro replied with a sigh. 

    “We just have to believe that we can do it, or we won’t,” Shiro urged. Keith nodded once and looked around at all of the other paladins. Everyone else nodded simultaneously and Shiro smiled with pride.

    “We’ve trained as much as we could, we’ve prepared as much as we could,” Shiro continued. The paladins watched him with nervous but determined eyes.

    “There’s nothing else for us to do but kick some  _ ass! _ ” Shiro declared. All of the paladins, Keith included, laughed at this. The paladins went closer to the window by the front of the castle, watching as they neared the planet. Keith’s chest puffed a little as confidence and adrenaline swelled through his body. Shiro was always known to give the best pep talks. Everyone else was in better spirits, too.

    The castle flew to planet Ietis, which was only a few minutes flight away from the castle. Keith’s brows lifted in surprise when he saw the state of the planet.

    It was battered and brown, sullen and desolate. As they got closer, the paladins noticed that the Galra literally were everywhere. Galra bases dotted the planet every mile or so, infesting the previously lively planet with grey spots. 

    “Wow,” Hunk gasped as the castle landed on a isolated part of the planet. The paladins grabbed their bayards and Shiro gave the team one more invigorating pep talk before they set out.

    “Stay with me, I don’t wanna lose you,” Keith grumbled, scanning the planet as soon as they stepped out of the castle. Allura and Coran waved to everyone as they left.

    “I won’t leave your sight,” Lance swore, not looking in Keith’s direction. Both boys smiled and continued onward. 

    “What’s that?” Hunk questioned in a shaky voice, pointing up. There was a huge Galra ship just above them. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, and then began to book it back to the castle.

    “There’s a Galra ship,” Shiro explained as everyone ran back inside. Nobody said anything else as they ran to the lions.

    The lions flew out and scattered so everyone had a different angle on the Galra ship. Keith felt his heart begin to pound in his chest, and waited for Shiro’s command. The Galra ship fired a shot at the green lion, and Pidge quickly dodged it. 

    “What are we gonna do?” Pidge cried as she scrambled to get the green lion back in formation. 

    “Everyone, spread out and attack, the ship can’t attack all of us at once,” Shiro decided. Everyone scattered and took shots at the Galra ship, leaving dents and marks. Keith nervously fumbled with the red lion’s controls, which led him to fire a pretty shaky attack that wasn’t aimed very well. It hit the ship, though; barely.

    “Keith! What kind of attack was that?” Shiro barked. Keith winced at the sudden noise blasting through his helmet.

    “I’m sorry! My hand slipped,” Keith fretted, grabbing the controls after wiping the sweat off his palms.

    “This isn’t working!” Lance cried as the Galra ship fired multiple shots at the yellow, green, and blue lions. Shiro groaned and exhaled.

    “Alright, form Voltron!” Shiro demanded. Everyone flew in formation to form Voltron, hoping it would work.

    Shot after shot and they’ve barely made a dent in the ship. Attack after attack and the ship didn’t seem to be getting any weaker. The Galra ship have fired on Voltron quite a bit, and they were getting weaker with every blow they got.

    “How much longer?” Keith groaned as they attacked again.

    “I’m not sure, just keep trying,” Shiro urged. Everyone groaned but did as they were told.

    It took what must’ve been an hour or so to finally defeat the Galra ship. Everyone was relieved when it was finally over, breaking formation to go back to their lions.

    “Okay, everyone, patrol and take note of their activity. We gotta get to know this planet if we can get around the Galra and save it,” Shiro ordered. Everyone nodded.

    “Me and Lance will go this way,” Keith gestured with the red lion, flying to the right.

    “Okay, Pidge and Hunk, go left,” Shiro ordered.

    “Wait, you’re going by _ yourself?! _ ” Hunk exclaimed. 

    “I’ve been held captive by the Galra for a year, and defeated the undefeated in a gladiator ring. I’m sure I can handle it,” Shiro assured.

    “If you insist…” Keith responded hesitantly.

    “Call if you need anything, we’ll all be there ASAP,” Lance added, his voice firm.

    “Alright, team, break!” Shiro called. The lions flew their separate ways and began to patrol the Galra infested planet.

    Lance and Keith were silent as they patrolled the planet, observing how Galra bases and towers were strategically placed. All of the bases were within range of one another, covering the whole planet in defenses.

    “This is gonna be tricky to navigate around,” Keith mumbled. Lance grumbled an agreement as they made another lap, making mental note of everything.

    “The poor Ietians, they’re too frightened to come out of hiding on their own home planet,” Lance stated solemnly. Keith’s brows drew upwards to create a dejected expression. 

    “I can’t even begin to imagine,” Keith muttered. There was a minute of silence, and Lance broke it with a thoughtful hum. Keith raised an eyebrow when the blue lion paused in air.

    “Hold on a sec, I see something odd,” Lance mumbled, lowering and landing the blue lion.

    “Lance! Get your ass back up here! What if someone catches you?” Keith exclaimed in a whisper shout.

    Keith groaned when Lance didn’t listen and decided to take the risk and lower and land the red lion. Keith’s eyebrows raised in surprise when he reached the ground beside the blue lion.

    “All of those… weren’t Galra towers?” Keith mumbled. They weren’t towers, most of them were bases, but some of them were just huge Galra drones.

    “Some of them are  _ guards,  _ or  _ drones, _ my God, they’re  _ huge, _ ” Lance’s voice trailed off as he watched the Galra guards walk around. 

    “Let’s go, before they see us,” Keith mumbled. Lance reluctantly agreed to do so and they both lifted off again.

    “Where do you think _ you’re _ going?” Keith snapped as Lance back flew down and into a big cave.

    “The lions will be safe here,” Lance pointed out. Keith raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

   “You’re saying that like we’re leaving them here,” Keith stated slowly. Lance didn’t answer and landed his lion snuggly in a corner.

    “We’re  _ leaving  _ them here?!” Keith exclaimed, landing the red lion beside the blue lion.

    “Yeah, I wanna go back to those Galra drones and Galra guards,” Lance commented as he leapt from the blue lion and onto the cave floor. Keith scoffed as he did the same.

    “Lance, I love you, but this is the  _ ultimate _ dumb move,” Keith advised.

    “Shiro called me in the blue lion as we were patrolling, said that he had to attack, Pidge did too,” Lance shot back. 

    “Well, you could’ve told me that,” Keith muttered under his breath, placing a hand on his hip.

    “Those Galra guards are somethin’ else, and I want to do something about it,” Lance finished. Keith, unconvinced, crossed his arms.

    “C’mon, babe, Shiro said we had to study the Galra’s behavior to get a chance to beat ‘em,” Lance reminded. Keith growled and grabbed his bayard, which made Lance beam and jog beside his boyfriend.

    They snuck out of the cave, watching the Galra guards and drones. Lance stepped out further, and Keith huffed nervously, blowing a piece of hair out of his face as he did so. A few Galra drones whipped to face them, and the duo quickly popped back into the cave.

    “Call Shiro,” Lance ordered in a whisper shout. Keith nodded and jumped back a little when Shiro’s hologram popped up.

    “What’s going on?” Shiro questioned.

    “We got out of the lions to investigate a Galra guard and drone spot, and a few of ‘em spotted us, we’re dangerously outmanned,” Keith explained. There was a shot heard in the background and Shiro groaned.

    “I’m in some hot water right now, but once this clears up I’ll head over; sit tight.” was all Shiro said before hanging up. 

    “Damn,” Keith swore under his breath. A herd of drones suddenly burst into the cave, and Lance swiftly grabbed Keith’s hand, yanking him out behind him as they sprinted to another cave, right next to the one they were previously in.

    The Galra drones started taking shots. The pair ducked just in time, and gasped when a laser fired just above their heads. Lance yanked Keith faster and they quickly darted into another cave. The Galra drone herd thundered past the cave they’re hiding in, and turned around to see where the paladins went. Once the drones were out of earshot, Keith and Lance released a heavy breath neither of them knew they were holding in.

    “Thank God,” Lance sighed. Keith remained alert, but felt relieved as well. 

    “These drones are much smarter than the other ones,” Keith commented. He checked his radar and spotted the Galra just outside their cave, patrolling the whole area.

    The two relaxed briefly and Keith checked his radar every few seconds. Shiro was helping out Hunk and Pidge, and Keith and Lance were waiting for Shiro to clear up the area for them. He was on the other side of the planet, so they just had to make do for now.

    “The coast is clear,” Keith commented. Lance grabbed his bayard and trotted behind Keith, putting his helmet back on.

    “Now let’s get into our lions and get the  _ hell _ outta here,” Lance declared. The pair peeked outside to make sure no one was coming, and promptly snuck out of the cave. The pair’s eyes scanned the entirety of the territory surrounding them, alert and focused; ready to attack if need be.

    Two Galra drones popped out from behind a huge rock and began firing at Lance and Keith without warning. Thankfully there were only two; the rest had migrated away. Lance readied his bayard and took a shot, swearing under his breath when it missed.

    “Keith! On your right!” Lance called. Keith dodged the Galra drone’s punch and swiftly raised his bayard, attempting to plunge it into the metal. It make a clunking sound, which caused Keith’s bayard to tweak awkwardly from the knockback.

    “Their metal is rock solid! I can’t get through it!” Keith shouted, dodging the attacks since he couldn’t do much else.

    “Lemme try,” Lance stated, aiming his bayard at the drone that was fighting with Keith. One shot, and it barely made a dent in the metal.

    “You’re joking!” Lance cried, dodging the Galra drone’s attack.

    “What do we do?” Keith shouted, swinging his fists at the Galra drone, creating distance between them. Lance attempted to do the same.

    “We can’t reach the lions,” Lance realized aloud, taking note of how far the cave was and taking note of the fact that they were currently battling super smart A.I Galra drones.

    “Try using your bayard again, you made a dent, which is better than what I did,” Keith urged, swinging his sword once more.  It make a scratch and a dent in the Galra drone’s arm, and Keith groaned when his best efforts were barely scratching the surface; literally.

    Lance continued to fire shots, switching between the two Galra drones. It was such tedious and slow work; even after Lance took off each of their arms they were still just as powerful. Keith kept using his bayard to slowly cut away at the metal, his anger and impatience fueling stronger attacks. He got halfway through the metal on it’s leg, and attempted to pull his bayard out. As he did so, it flew all the way behind him, getting caught in a stay shrub.

    “Shit,” Keith cursed, resorting to his bare hands for combat. Lance glanced his way and raised an eyebrow when he noticed Keith’s bayard was gone.

     “My bayard flew… behind me,” Keith took a breath in the middle of his sentence, his stamina starting to drain. His attacks and reaction times were starting to slow down; he needed to take a break. The Galra drone was just fine, despite having lost an arm and having a deep scratch in its leg, exposing wires.

    Lance was attempting to create some distance between him and the Galra drone he was currently fighting with so he could help Keith. Lance readied his bayard and took a quick shot, huffing when it bounced off the surface of the drone and reflected behind it.

    “Hang in there, babe!” Lance called. Keith was really slowing down now, as his attacks with his bayard sucked the energy out of him. 

    Keith was starting to lose his footing. He’d get up to make a small attack, only to get knocked back down. Keith was huffing and puffing, sweat was pouring down his face, and his posture was slouched. Lance attempted to shoot the Galra drone in front of him again, and screamed aloud in anger when he failed.

    Keith collapsed to the floor and sat down, leaning back on his hands, which were pressed onto the ground acting like support bases for his arms. Keith’s eyes were squinted shut and his head hung heavy, his hair draping over his face in sweaty strips.

    Before Lance could react, the Galra drone in front of Keith raised its gun.

    Right as Lance knocked his Galra drone over, he looked over to Keith. The sound he then heard was something he’d never, _ ever _ forget.

    A gunshot echoed across the desolate terrain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL WHAT A WAY TO END IT  
> im sorry i didn't update yesterday i was busy with homework and bleh  
> but its the weEKEND WHICH MEANS I'M GONNA FINISH THIS YAY  
> hope you enjoyed this chapter, chapter 4 (the finale) will either be up really late tonight or tomorrow ^^


	4. Demise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This mission was called 'life-threatening' for a reason.

    When the shot rang out, time came to a screeching halt. Sounds stopped. Lance could hear his breathing; ragged, hard, quick. Lance could hear his heartbeat in his ears;  hard, heavy, quick.

    Keith’s face twisted in discomfort and pain as his torso fell back onto the dry, rocky terrain of planet Ietis. As soon as his body ceased movement, time sped up again, noises were heard again, and Lance scooped up his boyfriend and draped him over his shoulder.

    Lance used one hand to hold his injured boyfriend in place, and the other to hold his bayard. With two swift shots, he knocked the drones down, giving him enough time to sprint and hide back in the cave where the red and blue lions were.

    Lance waited until the Galra drones ran the opposite direction to set Keith down onto the ground. Keith winced and Lance did the same, feeling tears form into his eyes at the sight of Keith’s condition. His skin was already pale, and blood was starting to trickle through Keith’s armor.

    Keith had been shot in the chest, the wound missing his heart by two inches to the left of it. The wound was bleeding profusely, and Lance couldn’t figure out how to stop it.

    Lance’s breathing sped up, and tears made their way down his cheeks as he panicked. Keith was bleeding horribly and he had no way to stop it.

    Keith was in a daze, his face twisted in discomfort from the pain. He heard Lance hyperventilating and sobbing, and raspily cleared his throat to catch his boyfriend’s attention.

    “Hey,” Keith whispered. Lance sobbed and held Keith’s hand tight in his own.

    “You got shot,” Lance explained in between breathy sobs. Keith closed his eyes for a second before opening them again.

    “I can feel it,” Keith whispered, his voice croaky. The pain in his chest was sharp and constant.

    “I’m bleeding,” Keith mumbled, his eyes widening. He lifted his head to look, but Lance immediately ushered him to lay back down. Lance’s sobbing and fast breathing most likely meant that Keith wasn’t gonna make it out of here.

    “I knew… this mission… was dangerous,” Keith breathed. Lance sniffled and held both of Keith’s hands in his, not letting them go. Lance gently kissed Keith’s right hand, and then let go of one of his hands to wipe his tears, but grabbed it right back again.

    “Lance,” Keith wheezed, coughing before he could say anything else. Blood dripped down his lip and onto his chin. Keith cringed at the feeling and turned his head to spit on the ground.

    “Lance,” Keith croaked again once he laid his head back down. Lance squeezed Keith’s hand before answering.

    “Yes, love?” Lance sniffled. Keith dropped his left hand to his side, but kept holding Lance’s hand with his right.

    “I’m not gonna make it outta here, am I?” Keith murmured. Lance’s face contorted as more tears dripped down his face.

    “Shiro’s probably on his way, he’ll be here soon,” Lance assured softly, his voice wavering.

    “You didn’t answer my question,” Keith coughed, sighing shakily once the fit faded. He used his left hand to wipe the blood that trickled down his chin.

    “Am I gonna die?” Keith rasped bluntly. Lance’s lip quivered as a sob bubbled in his throat.

    “If Shiro doesn’t get here in a few minutes,” Lance replied in a low voice, his lip quivering rapidly as a steady stream of hot tears made their way down his cheeks. A tear got caught in Lance’s eye, causing it to sting.

    “Isn’t he…” Keith trailed off, taking a gasping breath and coughing to clear his throat.

    “Across the planet?” Keith finished breathily, his chest heaving. Lance noticed Keith was looking at him, so Lance nodded.

    “So, I’m dying,” Keith stated, looking up at the ceiling.

    “I’m afraid so, love,” Lance cried, his lip quivering again.

    “Can I... say some things?” Keith asked, rolling his head so he could look at his boyfriend. Lance knew what was coming and he didn’t wanna hear it, but he nodded anyway.

    “I wish I could’ve stayed longer… I haven’t gotten to show you… how much I love you yet,” Keith breathed with a small smile on his face. A tear trailed down Keith’s cheek, and Lance grabbed Keith’s hand as he sobbed.

    “I love you… with all of my being,” Keith continued, pausing briefly between sentences to take a breath.

    “I don’t hurt anymore,” Keith commented. Lance tried to smile, but ended up sobbing loudly, sitting on his knees. His head hung down and Lance was hunched over in almost a ball, still holding his boyfriend’s hand.

    “That’s not good… is it?” Keith breathed. Lance looked up and noticed Keith had a noticeable pallor covering his skin.

    “No, no it’s not,” Lance mumbled, tears heavily flowing down his cheeks with no sign of stopping.

    “I love you so much... and I wish I could stay… and fight with you,” Keith stated, taking a gulping breath that made Lance cringe and made his heart shatter in his chest.

    “This mission… kicked my ass… I wasn’t… strong enough,” Keith mumbled. Lance sniffled and kissed Keith’s forehead gently before going back to his side.

    “Lance?” Keith whispered, his eyes staring into Lance’s. 

    “What is it, love?” Lance questioned, his voice quivering.

    “Do you promise… you still love me?” Keith wheezed, swallowing and taking a heavy breath. 

    “Of course, I’ll always love you,” Lance sobbed, his voice barely understandable. Lance held back a loud sob when Keith’s eyes fluttered shut as he smiled softly.

    “Flaws and all?” Keith whispered slowly. Lance sobbed loudly and his body shook as tears continued to flow.

    “Flaws and all, my love,” Lance cried, his lip quivering rapidly. Lance collapsed onto his knees, his head hanging towards the ground. His sniffles and sobs were all that were heard, and they echoed across the dark cave walls.

    “Good,” Keith breathed one last time.

    Lance lifted his head up when he didn’t hear Keith breathing anymore.

    Everything stopped. 

    Lance felt for a pulse.

    There wasn’t one.

    Lance began to wail, crying and screaming for Keith to come back as the grief kicked in. Lance yelled and bellowed for someone to have Keith and him switch places. 

    Lance begin to sob about how this was all his fault, and tears continued exploding down his cheeks, dripping from where they hung on his chin and onto the cave floor, leaving small dark spots. 

    Lance continued to cry and yell until his lungs and his throat burned. He screamed his voice away, and he didn’t care if a Galra drone found him and hunted him down. At this point, Lance would honestly prefer it.

    Lance was breathing shakily and quickly as he laid down on the cave floor next to Keith, still holding onto his hand. His lip starting quivering rapidly again, and Lance squinted his eyes shut as tears squeezed their way through, sobs bubbling in his throat and floating out of his lips.

    “I’ll always love you,” Lance cried, looking to Keith, who was ghostly pale. His snow white skin greatly contrasted his black hair.

    “I promise, love,” Lance cried, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand.

   Lance felt like he could throw up. Nothing felt real, but in his head he knew it was. This wasn’t a dream, but part of him hoped it was. That part of him also really wanted to wake up right about now.

    “I love you, Keith,” Lance whispered, his throat growing sore. Lance shakily leaned down to kiss Keith’s hand before he laid his head back down.

    “Flaws and all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT I CRIED SO BAD WRITING THIS F U C K  
> well its done now, it's over folks go home  
> i live for angst i couldn't NOT kill someone off  
> IM SORRY FORGIVE ME I'LL GIVE YOU TISSUES AND COOKIES


End file.
